The price of friendship
by chibi-iruka
Summary: FE:tSS A series of oneshots dealing with the friendship between two of the characters when they are forced into guarding the merchant's caravan. Gen.
1. Romance

Disclaimer: Fire Emblem isn't mine.

'Hey! Know what's interesting?' Ross asked, dipping his feet into the stream. Lute didn't bother to look up from her book.

'Ancient stories detailing each different culture's approach to creation' she answered lazily, turning the page.

'What?' Ross rubbed his scalp.

'How about the liver? The liver is interesting.'

'No!' Ross grabbed for a fish that had come to examine his wiggling toes, 'No, I meant the army. Isn't weird how there's only a few of us, but we're managing to topple the greatest nation on the continent?' 

'No.' 

'No?' 

'Nope. They've got me here. With a prodigy like me, how could they lose?'

'I guess.' Ross muttered, letting the silvery water slide through his fingers. He slid his toes deep into the silt at the river bottom and glanced over at his companion ruefully. 'If you are such a genius, then why the hell are you stuck out here guarding a supply van?'

'Because,' Lute began, looking at him over the top of her book with a little annoyance, 'Somebody needs to protect you.'

'Hey! Don't you think I can protect myself?' Ross asked, glaring at her.

'No.'

'You don't have to be so damn cruel' Ross said, turning away, sulking. Lute ignored him and continued reading. Somewhere behind them, the merchants were arguing over a broken axle. Their voices drifted over in the wind, sounding warped somehow, as if they were in a dream. It certainly felt like there was only two of them there, with the oppressive summer heat distorting things. Ross stretched idly and took out his water skin, filling it with the clear river water. He knew better than to ask why he'd been assigned to guard duty. He'd been slacking off on his training lately and had had to be saved more than once by a passing ally.

He kicked the water, not knowing exactly how to ask his question.'Have you ever...' he trailed off and shrugged, before kicking the water again. 'Have you ever liked someone? I mean really liked someone?'

'I like some people.' Lute said, turning her book upside down to examine a picture, 'I like Artur and Titania at least.'

'No,' he shook his head. 'I mean- well, have you ever loved someone?'

'It's none of your business.'

'I think I'm in love.' Ross was blushing now.

'Good for you.'

'With Amelia.'

'Brilliant.'

'Don't you care?' He asked suddenly, looking around slightly annoyed.

'Not really. Am I supposed to?'

'Well, yes!' He pouted. 'I'm pouring my heart out here and you aren't even pretending to be interested!'

'True. Very well, I shall pretend to be interested. But only because you're my friend.'

'Geez!' Ross pulled his feet out of the water and hugged his knees close to his chest.'You're really really weird, you know that? Anyway, I was looking for some advice.'

'Advice?' Lute repeated, trying to hold back a grin. 'Of course. Ask me anything.'

'Well, if you were a girl-' Lute crossed her arms, and Ross rubbed the back of his head, and attempted to back-track. 'Um, what I'm saying is- If you were Amelia, what would you want as a- a sort of present?'

'You don't need to worry Ross. I'll help you find a present for her.' Lute smiled sweetly.'Just leave it to me.' She lent forward to pat him on the arm in a comradely way, before going back to her book.

Lute had been sitting on the merchant's cart waiting for Ross to get back from his date with Amelia for a while now, and she was getting pretty impatient. It wasn't just her who was getting antsy waiting for him, more than one of the traders had voiced their collective displeasure at her companion's lateness.

Finally, he appeared, walking down the road towards them, eyes cast downwards, a pout on his face. Without a word, he jumped up onto the cart beside her and crossed his arms over her chest, barely acknowledging her presence. Lute took out a book, knowing that he'd eventually be compelled to say _something _about his visit to Amelia.

'Well.' He said, after a while, proving her prediction correct, 'Well, that went really really badly.'

'I did guess' she said, turning the page in her book, sneaking a glance at him. 'What did you do?'

'What did I do?!' He turned to her, enraged. 'What the hell did you do to her? I spent two hours trying to get her to talk to me!'

Lute put the book aside and folded her hands in her lap before turning to look at the boy. 'Ross,' She began, in her best attempt at a friendly voice, 'The fact is, women are fickle creatures, prone to changing their minds, and in fact their _very emotions _at but a moments notice. This Amelia person – why she would have loved you for a little while but then she would have decided that you were not good enough for her (as women are in fact wont to do) and probably abandoned you for some handsome young squire. In fact, you could say that whoever it was who sent her a packet full of the rarest stag beetles labeled "love from Ross" was in fact doing you the greatest of all favours by sparing you from that. In fact, you could say that they are in fact your hero, and you should be grateful to them.'

'I am going to get you back this.' Ross said, glaring.

'I will only believe that when I see it.' Lute said, primly, picking up her book as the merchant's carts began to pull away.

A/N I'll be continuing this. There should be another chapter up as I'm finished kicking my ICT exam's ass.

Titania Vanessa. Remember the Lute/Vanessa supports? Where she mixes up the names or Vanessa and her Pegasus? Yeah.

On a different note, if ever there was a CSI/FE crossover, Lute would make the perfect Grissom. Just sayin'

And yes, this was very dialogue heavy. Sorry 'bout that.


	2. The Letter

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem

A/N: Firefly for the win. Anybody who notices the reference gets a cookie.

Ross walked alongside the head of the merchant's caravan, deep in thought. Apart from the occasional sound of fighting that came from the battle taking place about a mile ahead the road was quiet, and he was glad of that. Some Grado soldiers had attacked them earlier and although they'd won the fight pretty easily, one of them had gotten in a lucky hit on Lute, who was now sitting on one of the carts the traders used for transporting letters, grumpily trying to read a book. One of her arms had been put in a sling and she was finding it more than a little difficult to hold the book upright and turn the pages. Finally, she stopped struggling and slammed the book down beside her. Ross slowed down until he was walking parallel to her. 'You OK?' he offered, smiling at her.

'I'm bored, Ross! I have nothing to do!' She rubbed her eyes with her free arm, pouting.

'You could always sort out the letters.' He nodded towards the large pile behind her.

'I'd really rather not.'

'We could play I-spy'

'...Seriously, no.' She hopped off of the cart, stumbling a little bit as she struggled to keep balanced. 'I'm going to go for a walk.'

'Don't get lost!' He called after her already retreating back. She waved back at him in response. He glanced back at the cart, then did a double take. There was a letter on the top of the pile, with Lute's name on it and a large pink heart on the corner.

A love letter? For Lute? He went to call her back, but stopped. Instead, he pocketed the letter. Revenge he thought to himself, pressing his feelings of guilt to the back of his mind.

He walked faster until he was keeping pace with the head of the caravan again, putting one of his hands into his pocket, touching the letter. Did Lute really have a boyfriend? Well, she _was_ always off following that shaman guy, but then she'd called it getting information on any threats to her position as a genius or _something_ (if he was honest, he never really listened when she started ranting about the other magic users, the same way she stopped listening when he was talking about becoming a great axe-wielder) and besides, he'd never struck Ross as the type to send love letters. There was always Artur – but him sending _any_ girl a love letter would contradict all of the rumours Ross had heard about him and Cormag. She did get on very well with Kyle (very very well) but Kyle seemed too stiff and formal. And besides, any talking the two seemed to do was done strictly in military terms as the two planned strategy together. Although her occasional glances at him (and vice versa) told Ross that they were attracted to each other, neither seemed to have made a move towards a relationship.

Then there was Vanessa, neatly rounding off the list of people Ross knew Lute knew. She was nice and kind (although he was biased since she'd saved him from bandits and introduced him to Princess Eirika) and really good looking. Plus, he was sure she'd be the sort to sign her letters with hearts. So, Lute had a girlfriend? If he wasn't on duty he'd have gone immediately to meditate on that thought in his bunk. Instead he pushed the distracting images (involving pillow fights and rather see through pajamas) to the back of his mind for later to concentrate on the task at hand.

He wasn't normally of a vengeful nature, but the Amelia Incident (as he termed it in his head) was the culmination of weeks of pranks and jokes at his expense. He simply had to retaliate, and even if he had no intention of destroying a healthy relationship (_especially _if it was with Vanessa) he wanted to have information on her love life so that he could use it against her. It would be nice if _he_ was the one teasing _her_ for once.

He took the envelope out of his pocket, gulped, then opened it gently. Almost immediately a sweet soft sent hit him and he took out the letter to reveal a couple of small, sweet little flowers pushed into the bottom of the envelope.

Oh yeah. It had to be Vanessa. None of the others would send _flowers._ How girly was that?

Then his eyes skipped down to the bottom of the letter to read the name of the sender and his smug grin was wiped off of his face.

'Whatcha got there, son?' One of the older traders asked, noting Ross' suddenly almost melancholic look.

'Nothing.' Ross said, quickly putting the letter back into its envelope. He sealed it back up (with a little difficulty), then put it back into his pocket before walking on, lost in thought.

When Lute caught up with the merchant's train, they'd set up camp for the night and the main army had joined them. She'd gone to get some food and find Titania and maybe Vanessa and Artur to talk about the really cool nest of spiders she'd found in the woods when Ross grabbed her by her free arm and dragged her away from the camp. She'd been about to snap at him when she saw the strange look on his face, a mixture of remorse and utter sadness. 'What's wrong?' She asked, warily.

'Here.' He handed something to her. A letter. 'This is yours. I took it and I shouldn't have.' He stayed there as Lute opened the letter, his hands crammed into his pockets, avoiding her eyes.

'This is a letter from my grandmother.' Lute said finally, raising her eyes from the paper.

'Yeah.' Ross rubbed the back of his head bashfully, still avoiding her eyes. 'I- I took it. I'm sorry. I wanted to get even with you because of the whole 'Amelia' thing. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have.'

'No. You shouldn't have.' Lute glanced at the paper again. 'You- you don't get much mail, do you Ross?' She asked suddenly.

'No, I don't get any.' Ross said, looking up surprised. His eyes met hers and he dropped his gaze back down to the ground, his face going red with shame. 'Dad's the only person I have in the world, and we see each other every day. There's no point in us sending each other letters.'

Lute looked at the letter, and then pushed it into his hand. 'Here.' She said, slightly gruffly, 'You can have this. Just cross out all the "Lute"s and replace them with your name.'

Ross looked down at the letter, then back up at her, before finally accepting it. 'Thank you.' He said, softly.

'Not a problem.' She walked away a few meters, before turning back to look at him. 'Don't forget, we've got a day off tomorrow.'

'Please' he said, smiling for the first time in a few hours, 'This'll be our first day off in a month! How could I forget something like that?'

'I don't know. I'm not the idiot.' She smiled as he silently fumed. 'See you the day after tomorrow.'

'Yeah, I guess.' Ross pouted, then waved as she left. Lute waved back languidly as she left.

A/N: Wrote this during a headache attack and while comment spamming on lj, so it may be a little bit weird. Here's the epilogue, Lute's letter (AKA why Lute wanted to get rid of the letter):

_My dear Lute:_

_It's nice to see you're finally doing something useful, although you could have told me you were leaving! I spent two weeks thinking you were still in your room studying! _

_Well, at least you're out of the house. And in an army too! That is a lovely place to meet boys. I do hope you are meeting some nice boys, because like I always say, you can't marry a book deary! Speaking of marrying, do you remember that nice man from over the way? His daughter just got married! Although there are rumours that she is in the family way which is horrifying as you can imagine!_

_Speaking of which, when are you going to give me a great-grandchild? _

_Love, Granny._

It is a scientific fact that grandparents live only to tell their grandchildren to settle down.


	3. Self defence

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

A/N: My computer deleted this, so I had to re-write it. :(

I'm so sad.

And I'm apologising for any lack of quality in this chapter. My computer kept freezing which meant that I had to restart quite a few parts of this. It might be a little bit weird in places.

* * *

'This? This is moronic, Ross.' Lute said, with all of her trademark charm and tact. 

'This isn't moronic!' Ross pouted. 'This is for your own good!'

'Hardly.' Lute folded her arms. 'This is completely superfluous.'

'What?'

'This is unnecessary.'

'It isn't!' He insisted, 'This is really important!' He put his hands on his hips and glared at her.

The two of them were standing about ten steps apart on a strip of wasteland overlooking the camp. The noise from the rest of the army reached them clearly, annoying him slightly. His mage friend had a tendency to be distracted easily and he needed her to be paying complete attention.

'I have no interest in this exercise.' Lute said, glaring back at him, slightly.

'I don't care!' Ross said, 'It's really important that you learn how to defend yourself!'

'I _know _how to defend myself.'

'Not properly.'

'I'm going to guess that your conclusion there is from the fact that instead of using a weapon I rely on my innate skill as a magician to defend myself from any attacks. This would probably be because you do not understand the subtleties of magic, which is only to be blamed on your...rather loud...style when it comes to battle.' She thought for a moment, 'But at the same time you have proved yourself fairly able when it comes to fighting at the side of a mage, and that can only be explained by a sort of understanding on your part whether conscious or unconscious of how magic works - which means that there is some other reason for your idiocy.'

'What?'

'Explain your ridiculous logic.'

'Fine.' Ross scratched his head. 'Well, uh. You aren't very good at defending yourself from physical attacks, so I'm going to help you learn self-defence!'

'I don't _need_ to learn self-defence. I am a master of all magic.'

'What about what happened last night?' Ross asked, pouting.

'When you declared yourself my "protector" and followed me around all night? Yes, that is one of the few experiences I wish never to repeat. What did you need to protect me from? We're at least three days march from the nearest enemy camp. There are no bandits in this area. Was there a particularly viscous gang of squirrels out to get me, Ross? Should I be worried about the dark looks I've been getting from the local badger population?'

'No! Before that. When you were being hassled by those guys.'

'"Those guys"? Do you mean those perfectly nice soldiers who asked me the time?'

'They didn't look like they were asking you the time.'

'Well, I can assure you they were.'

'Really? 'Cause all of them were holding weapons and at least two were growling.'

'...There was a misunderstanding. I may have accidentally mentioned something pertaining to their cleanliness or intelligence.'

'Right.' He made a sceptical face. 'Well, you didn't have your tomes with you, and if I hadn't have shown up-'

'Please, Ross. Nobody likes an egomaniac. Get on with it.'

'Well, the way I see it, when you're unarmed you're almost completely defenceless.'

'Almost?'

'You could always try to talk them to death.' Ross said, grinning a little. 'Well, I-'

'An hour?' Lute interjected.

'What?' Ross asked, genuinely puzzled.

'You look tired. Must have taken you most of last night.'

'What are you talking about?' Ross scratched his head.

'I'm just wondering how long it took you to think up that insult. I reckon you must have stayed up most of last night coming up with it.'

'Look- Just shut up? OK?'

'Uncomfortably close to the mark?'

'Be quiet already! Sheesh. Well, look, I figured that I should teach you some hand to hand combat skills. You know, just in case you can't use your magic and you get attacked.' He grinned, holding out his arms. 'Come on.' He called, 'Try to hit me.'

Suspecting a trap, Lute took a few steps forward until she was directly in front of him. She stopped there and stood for some time, examining his torso. 'What are you doing?' Ross asked, finally.

'Wondering where to hit you.' She poked him. 'See, the solar plexus is there and should I hit that it would hurt you a lot and possibly but not definitely incapacitate you. But-' She tapped another spot with her knuckle, 'that is where the heart is located. Should I hit that, I could theoretically mess with your heart beat which could lead to your demise. And this spot here-' She pressed the space just above his belly button with her thumb, 'should I hit you here, I'd wind you. In the time you took to recover, I could have run away.'

'Just...just try to hit me.' Ross said, feeling extremely uncomfortable with her descriptions. 'No. I've decided I don't want to play your silly game' Lute said, backing away as she pulled out one of her books from somewhere in her robes. 'Lute, listen, it's my duty as your friend to help you protect yourself!' 'We're friends?' Lute asked, already absorbed in her book. It was all about ladybirds and really had some fascinating images. Ross folded his arms, fuming. Then he marched over to her and pulled the book out of her hands. She made an annoyed sound and tried to grab it back, but Ross twisted away, using his height and strength advantage to keep it away from her, finally knocking her to the ground with ease. 'See?' He grinned. 'If you had any knowledge of hand to hand combat that wouldn't have happened!'

Lute made a face at him in response as she stood up with as much dignity as she could. Then she lunged at the book again. Ross tripped her and she found herself with a mouth full of dirt for the second time in as many minutes. This time, he sat on her back, stopping her from getting back up. 'Get off' she muttered darkly. 'Get off before I show you why I'm a genius of magic.'

Ross' answer to that was to clap a hand over her mouth to stop her chanting any spells. 'I win!' He said, triumphantly. 'Admit it!'

'Whatever.' The mage muttered darkly when he took his hand away. She began to try to wriggle out from beneath him - which was really a futile exercise.

'I'm better than you at this.' Ross leant back on his elbows and tumbled gently to the ground, finally letting her escape.

'You are not. It's just that the fact that you are a muscle-headed moron has actually come in handy for once.' She said, standing up and brushing herself off. She was moving slowly deliberately, hoping he wouldn't see just how embarrassed she was. 'Give me one hour and I will be able to beat you at this stupid, pointless little game.'

'Fine!' Ross jumped to his feet, still smiling. 'One hour.' He threw her book back to her and she caught it with only a little difficulty. Walking off back to the camp the long route through the woods he waved at her, then seemed to disappear from views into the trees. Lute watched him leave, suddenly realising just how angry she was. For an oaf like that to threaten her position as a superior being!

There was nothing else for it. He simply had to learn that he couldn't just go around treating her like that. He had to be punished. Her first thought was to find Kyle. The knight had been sympathetic to her so far and she was sure he wouldn't react well to hearing that she'd been pushed around by a lout like Ross.

Then she hit upon a much better plan. Speedily she put down her book and began to work.

* * *

Ross had been away for precisely an hour and a half. He'd been resting by a conveniently placed river bank, and had lost track of time there just thinking. He felt enormously guilty about knocking Lute over and had sort of been avoiding the main hubbub of the camp, hoping he wouldn't see his Dad, knowing that he couldn't face him. His father had always told him not to hit girls and he took that seriously, often refusing to attack even enemy pegasus knights except in self-defence. 

But, he reminded himself, at least his mage friend seemed to be taking it seriously now. He had been worried about her, and had probably smothered her slightly when it came to providing protection. If she knew self defence, even if only a little, he could concentrate in battle a bit more.

He climbed the next hill and almost jumped out of his skin with surprise - instead of waiting for him at the waste ground where he'd left her, Lute was just ahead in the woods, leaning against a large oak tree, her book at her feet. She waved at him and he nodded his head back at her. 'Hiya.' She called.

'Hey Lute.' He called back, feeling excited. If she was waiting here then she'd cracked it - she knew how to beat him. 'Do you wanna get down to business?' He asked.

'Sure.'

'Just how confident are you?' Ross asked, loosely clenching his fists. Lute picked up her book and began to flip through its pages. He took that as his answer and charged at full speed towards her. He was almost within an arm's length of her when he felt something give way beneath him. Suddenly, the ground around him seemed to crumble. Ross cried out and shut his eyes tightly as he began to fall, bouncing when he finally the ground. He lay on the sandy floor for a little while, waiting for the feelings of nausea that whirled in his stomach to receed before he sat up and opened his eyes. He was in a pit. A narrow pit with very tall sides.

He began to try and scale the pits walls and found himself sliding to the ground. The slippery surface of its sides afforded him no purchase. He tried to jump up to grab the edge and found he couldn't reach. He made an annoyed sound and Lute came into view, standing close to the edge of the hole. 'I think I win.' She said, smugly.

'What the hell did you do? Build a trap for me?'

'Oh yes. When you left I calculated the angle you'd come at me from, then dug a pit allowing for a marginal rate of error. Then all I had to do was cast an illusion spell over the top of it so it looked like you'd be running over solid ground, when in fact you wouldn't be.'

'Hey, That's - That's pretty cool Lute.' He laughed a little bit. 'I wouldn't have thought of it!'

'I know.'

'But the thing I don't get is how you managed to dig a hole this sized in just an hour and a half. And with no digging equipment either!'

'...Don't question my natural superiority.'

'Well! I suppose we should shake hands and make up. No hard feelings you know?' He held out his arm to her in a friendly gesture.

'Yeah. Maybe later. I've got things to do.' With a parting wave Lute walked away.

'Wait- What the- What the hell! Who's going to get me out of this hole!?'

'Oh, I'm sure somebody will come along eventually.' Lute called over her shoulder, leaving Ross to rot despondently in the little make-shift prison. It would be a long time until he was rescued.

* * *

I can't comprehend how long that took to write. And how long I've been fussing about some of the dialogue and how some of the sentences were constructed. 

Hah...I really need a beta reader...


	4. spiders

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem

A/N: Got rid of the old story four. I really liked it, but it just didn't fit in with the whole feel of the series. I really really like it though, so I'm keeping it and saving it on my computer, and if you really want a copy of it go ahead and e-mail me for it. I might even finish it for you. But probably not.

I'm also looking for a beta reader. So, if you're good at that sort of thing and know the canons of Naruto and Fire Emblems 7-9 pretty well, could you drop me an email or a note in the reviews? A good grasp of the characters is really welcome since I get really insecure over what I have them say and do.

Ooh, something else. I was thinking about writing an AU for the Sacred Stones, so if anybody is interested in co-authoring that with me drop me a bell.

* * *

Renais castle was fairly quiet at night. Quiet and empty and oh so cold Lute noted, running barefoot over the thick carpets of the throne room, hoping she wouldn't be noticed. There was very little chance she would, thankfully, since almost everyone was outside, celebrating the coronation of Prince Ephraim. 

Well, everyone except her. Which really wasn't her fault. Actually, it was Artur's.

She'd been walking through the castle with him, talking. Which was nice. She hardly ever got to spend anytime with her best friend anymore, in between the time he spent with Cormag and the time she spent studying they barely had time enough to say hello to each other. They'd been loitering outside the throne room, in no real hurry to get to the celebrations when she'd seen it.

A blue diamond spider.

Blue diamonds were the rarest species of spider in Magvel and almost never seen outside Frelia, so having one here in the heart of Renais was really an extrodinairy event. She'd caught it and was showing it to Artur, lecturing him on its various charms when he'd gone a bright shade of white and pushed past her to rush to the door. She'd dropped the spider and it had skuttled under the thrones. Which was why she was now on her hands and knees, peering under all of the furniture in search of it.

Suddenly, she heard a low whistle and went to stand up too fast, bumping her head against the solid oak of the throne. Cursing softly and rubbing her head, she stood up and turned to face the whistler. 'Can I help you Ross?' she asked, sourly.

'How did you know it was me?' Ross was leaning against the door to the throne room looking amused.

'I have a sixth sense when it comes to stupidity.'

'Why are you crawling around the throne room?'

'None of your business.'

'No, seriously, did you lose something?'

'Go away Ross. I'm looking for something important.' Lute said, turning from him to try and examine one of the suits of armor standing by the throne.

'Fine, fine.' He put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, backing away. He felt something drop onto his hands. Bringing them up to his eyes, he pulled a face when he saw what was on them. 'Ew. A spider.' He brushed it off and stepped on it when it hit the ground.

'A what?' Lute asked, turning around quickly.

'Oh, nothing. It was just a spider.'

'Where!?'

'Oh, I stepped on it.' Ross said, then noticed the mage in front of him seem to deflate.

'You...you didn't, did you?'

'I did.' He pulled a face. 'Why is that such a big problem?'

'Well, I don't know Ross. It's only the rarest species of spider in the world. It's only been studied by a handful of people. Geez!' She ran over to where he was and dropped to her knees searching the floor around his feet before rapping her knuckles on his boot. Obligingly, he lifted it for her and she picked up something carefully, cradling it in her hands. Ross glanced at it.

'Maybe you could do an autopsy or something?' He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

'Maybe. I doubt it.' Her voice had gone completely flat and from the way she was staring at the spider's tiny body Ross guessed he couldn't have made her sadder if he'd kicked her puppy into a fast-flowing stream.

'Is there anything I can do?' he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

'You've done enough.' she muttered under her breath, then shrugged him off and left, striding fast out of the room.

Ross' first instinct was to go after and hug her but he had a feeling she wouldn't thank him for that. Sighing he wandered over to the throne and sat on it quietly, leaning back as he tried to think. What could he do to make her feel better?

In a flash the answer came to him.

In seconds he was running out of the throne room and towards the kitchens, looking for as many containers as he could on the way.

* * *

Lute tapped her quill against her bottom lip, trying to think of something to write into her log. Somehow, however apt _"Dear diary, Ross shattered all of my hopes and dreams AGAIN_" was, it didn't really sound right and compared to the rest of her journal which was full of scientific jargon and magical mumbo-jumbo sounded down right stupid. She'd tried to describe the spider - or what was left of it - but found herself constantly distracted. Part of her hoped she hadn't hurt Ross' feelings too much. Not because she really cared about them mind - more because he had a habit of going over the top when asking for forgiveness. She'd taken a spear to the shoulder once and he'd blamed himself and had followed her around for almost a fortnight being horribly overly protective. She'd woken up one night to find he'd begun sleeping at the foot of her bed, ax cradled in his arms. Which really had been enough to stop her from sleeping for weeks. 

Her reverie was interrupted by a loud bang on her door. Oh joy. This would be him with his peace offering now. 'The door is open.' She called, shutting her journal and slipping it under her pillows. Ross sidled in, covered in scrapes and bandages, dragging a large burlap sack behind him. From it she could hear quite clearly the clinking of bottles.

'I brought you a present.' He smiled.

'So- So you did.' She sat up. 'Would you- would you mind just standing over there? I mean, you're- well, you are carrying a huge sack and you are covered in wounds and - and is that blood on your ax?'

'Yeah, sort of!' He grinned, rubbing the back of his head. 'Haha! Don't ask!'

'Believe me, I won't.'

'So, do you want to see your present or not?' he asked, eagerly.

'Why not?' she asked, sounding a little less eager than him. Pulling the sack into the room he turned it upside down and spilled out the contents onto the middle of the floor. At first, Lute thought he'd brought her some jars and was about to make a snide comment when she saw what was in the jars. Thousands and thousands of spiders. 'Ah.' she said.

'Yup! I figured if there was one really awesome rare spider in the castle, there had to be another!' Ross put his hands on his hips proudly grinning.

'Thank you. I- I appreciate the sentiment.' Lute said, wondering about the quickest way to dispose of them.

'Hey! It wasn't just me! You know that monk you're always following around? Artur?'

'I resent that, but continue.'

'Well, he helped! He said that he liked the ideas of getting rid of all the spiders in the castle, but to make sure that you didn't try to cure him of his phobia again. Whatever that means!'

'Oh- It's nothing important.' Lute said, glancing over the spiders again. Within a second Ross had crossed over to her and had wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. 'I did not consent to this' she said, quietly.

'You're my friend.' Ross said, breaking away to smile at her.

'I didn't consent to that either.'

'But?'

'But I accept it, I suppose.' she said, then reached up to give him an awkward hug. It lasted less than a minute. She pulled away from him, stepping back a few paces. 'Now- We never hug again, got it?' she said, face turning red.

'Got it.' Ross grinned. He walked to the door then turned and waved to her. 'See ya buddy!' he called, then left, shutting the door behind her.

Leaving her wondering just what exactly to do with a sack full of arachnids.

* * *

A/N: That's it for this time. Stay tuned. Maybe you'll get a longer update next time, since my exams will no longer be eating my brain.

And the cuts and scrapes on Ross? Well, you try collecting spiders with an aracnophobic monk. Seriously, there's a whole other fic there that needs to be written.

...Just not by me since my Artur is rubbish. D:


	5. Going Missing

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

A/N: Set just after the twins and co win. Another mostly dialogue one. Sorry. Better update next time.

* * *

'I can't believe people can be so cruel!' Ross exclaimed for the third time in as many minutes. Walking beside him, Lute sighed. She'd been trying to ignore him but it looked like he was going to make that impossible.

'What?' She asked, folding her arms and giving him a sideways look.

'Can you believe this?' Ross asked her, twisting towards her. 'People are actually trying to profit from the war!'

'What's wrong with that?' She asked, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her cloak. 'We're being hired as mercenaries by people who lost a lot in the war. Technically, we're profiting from of it.'

'Not that sort of thing!' He waved the point away. 'I mean, like, bandits and stuff.'

'I thought that bandits are normally universally regarded as bad anyway.'

'You know what I mean!' Ross said scowling. 'It's bad because there are more of them around!'

'Of course there are. There are very few ways of making money these days. Now that the war is over, there is less demand for people with combat skills. The only way for ex-soldiers to get any money is to either turn to banditry or become mercenaries.' She was in full lecture mode now, oblivious to the fact that her companion wasn't listening, 'In fact, you could say that as mercenaries, we need bandits to survive.'

'Yeah, yeah. I got it.' Ross laced his fingers behind his head and sent another side-ways glance at Lute. 'So have you given any more thought to what you're going to do after we get to Carcino?'

'Oh yes. There's a large library there and I hope to see if there are any books there I haven't read.'

'Then what?' Ross asked, giving an embarrassed sort of shrug.

'I don't know. I suppose I'll study there for a while.'

'Then what?'

'Do you have any idea how annoying you are becoming?'

'Eh, sorry.' He scratched his cheek, looking a little flustered, 'I mean, have you decided what you're going to do about my- My invitation?'

'To join you as a pirate?' She shrugged. 'I dunno. I don't really like traveling by boat.'

'I know, I'd just- I'd like it. I'd like to travel with you for a bit longer. Besides, a mage would be a really useful thing to have around at sea. Especially one as smart as you!' His eyes sparkled as he imagined it. 'I can be the captain, and you can be the first mate! It'll be awesome!

'Perhaps.' She looked at the ground. 'I'll have to think about it some more.'

Ross shuffled his feet slightly as the continued to walk, trailing behind her for a few moments before finally catching up. 'You aren't still thinking about what that guy asked you?'

'He isn't "that guy" Ross,' Lute pointed out, 'He's called Kyle.'

'Kyle, whatever.' Ross muttered, 'the guy who asked you to stay with him.' 

'Mmm. He was very persuasive.'

'So, are you going to? You know, stay with him?'

'I was planning on going to _visit_ him, yes. Why are you asking?'

'Just wanted to know,' Ross muttered again. He scowled at the ground. She gave him another side-ways look, then sighed.

'What's wrong?'

'Well, I just wanted us to travel around the whole world! Just us two, you know! Friends forever!'

'I already told you I'd travel with you. You'd probably die if I wasn't there to back you up, and nobody wants that to happen.'

'And what about Kyle?' Ross asked, still pouting.

'I think you should stop being such a brat about him. I like him more than I like you and I do want to visit him.'

'Yeah but-' He made a face, 'what if you end up staying with him for the rest of your life?'

'Then I'd be happy, and I'd assume that as my friend, you'd be happy for me.'

'You're right.' Ross sighed and sat down on a rock near the path. Lute hesitated, then sat down near him. 'I just- I just think we go better together than you and him.'

'How?'

'Well, our hair to begin with! Black and purple goes much better than green and purple!'

'True.' Lute admitted with a small smile.

'I guess I'm just a little scared about traveling alone.' Ross said finally. He sighed.

'You shouldn't be.' She put her arm around him, awkwardly, not really used to initiating contact with the boy. 'You're quite strong. Not as strong as I am, of course, but still rather strong.'

'Hey, thanks!'

'I suppose, my point is that you really shouldn't be afraid of anything. You were one of the best soldiers fighting for our side and even without my own exemplary skill backing you up you can be rather formidable.' 

'Thanks, Lute.' Ross smiled weakly. His friend clutched his large hands in her smaller ones and gave him an easy smile.

'So, no more complaining, alright?'

'Alright!' Satisfied with his response, she stood up. He did the same, holding his arms out from his side. 'Give me a hug?'

'I'd really rather not.' She said, starting off in the direction they'd been traveling in. Ignoring that, he jumped and grabbed her, hugging her close. She stumbled slightly and they both tumbled to the ground. He continued to hold her close, giggling at their sudden fall. 'I'll tell you what I won't miss when I visit Kyle,' Lute grumbled, 'things like this! Get off me!'

* * *

A/N: This was originally going to be a relatively serious chapter featuring drunken sex and baby scares. But I'm not well and don't want to bother with something heavy like that. So it's staying in my notebook.

And I'm sorry about any clunkiness in the dialogue. Normally I read it out loud to make sure it sounds natural, but I didn't this time.


End file.
